Lee Atwater Resigns From Howard Board

March 8, 1989|By New York Times

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Republican National Committee, Lee Atwater, resigned from the board of trustees of Howard University on Tuesday after students at the mostly black school staged a sit-in protest seeking his ouster.

The sit-in at the main administration building at Howard, one of the nation's most prominent black universities, had turned into an embarrassment for the Republican Party and for Atwater, who had recently opened a campaign to attract black voters.

A spokesman for Atwater, Leslie Goodman, said he chose to resign after he saw news accounts Tuesday on the protest. ''He realized there was a potential for violence, and he said this is where you have to throw in the towel,'' she said. ''If so much as one kid gets hurt over this, it would be terrible.''

The announcement came only hours after President Bush expressed support for Atwater and criticized the sit-in by students, who were protesting what they described as racial overtones in Atwater's management of Bush's 1988 GOP presidential campaign.

In the campaign, Atwater was frequently accused by Democrats and minority groups of having attempted to win votes by appealing to anti-black sentiment. Atwater has denied the charge.

The students had been barricaded in the school's main administration building since Monday morning. Student leaders said Tuesday afternoon that more than 250 students were in the four-story administration building; reporters were not allowed inside.

Icy weather in the capital closed the school Tuesday, allowing scores of other Howard students to gather on the steps of the administration building Tuesday afternoon, chanting: ''Rain or snow, Lee must go.''

At a news conference Tuesday, Bush said Howard students did not have a legitimate grievance with Atwater. ''I think it's a good thing he's on the board,'' Bush said. ''I think that will work out just fine.''

Howard, founded in 1867, has 10,500 students and is one of the nation's largest black universities. Atwater was named to its board of trustees in January.